Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 263, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 October 1919 — GREEKS HAD FORM OF TENNIS [ARTICLE]

GREEKS HAD FORM OF TENNIS

That the Game Is an Old One Is Sure, but Its Origin Is Hard to Trace. Discussion of possible changes in ~the teririlnblbgy of tennis naturally includes the name Itself; and here there are many possible origins. The game, in one form or another, is very old. 'The GreeKs Xnbcked a ball back and forth and called the exercise “phenols,” for which the Roman name was “teniludium.” “Phennls” and “tenlludluin” were ancestors probably of the similar French sport in the middle ages, and modern tennis may, for that matter, have been named from the province of Tennois, where this game was exceedingly popular. Possibly, but improbably, the name is derived from the French “tenez,” in the sense of "get ready.” “Deuce” is generally accepted as another form of the French “deux,” but “racquets’’ has several possible sources, the most likely, perhaps being the old medieval word “rachette,” meaning the palm of the hand, when rhe game was played like modern handball. Chaucer and Shakespeare both knew the game in England, and, whether or not they played it, had doubtless looked on with satisfaction, as did Queen Elizabeth.